How fu$#ed up is this

[Mark Vieth]

Now as some of you know I have written a very long story which is attached to my name as a signature. It is the instructor and student one. Anyway I posted this story on another site which some of you may or may not know. It is www.lustylibrary.com. Now don't get me wrong it is a good site for stories and not much else. Anyway their mods have to pre read the stories before they are posted. They said mine had incorrect grammer and I had spoken in the past tense. WTF???? I posted it here no problems and everyone understands it without a hitch. I have never had once lil or any other mod here tell me that my story needed work in the grammer department. I mean for fu#$'s sake its a sex story.

[Oldfart]

Grammer police.

[Lilith]

Because you did not ask for editing. We openly allow submissions. Other sites proof and require editing or have a submission process. We edit only if asked or if someone breaks the rules. Constructive criticism never hurts. I have my students proof and help edit their peers work all the time.

[Irezumi Kiss]

Grammer police.
Calling Kelsey Grammer! :roflmao:

Serious note: Editing IS important if you honestly care about your story quality and even those who are good at self-editing can or might miss a few quirks with tense, grammar and most especially spelling. Best to have two or three experienced eyes have a look-see.

[Loulabelle]

It was a bit rubbishy that they said it was in the past tense - most stories are and personally I prefer them that way. Having said that, a lot of the back story did appear to be in the pluperfect tense which can make it a little bit strange to read - perhaps that's what they meant - in which case they should have bloody said so. No point in being Grammar Nazis if they don't understand grammar properly themselves.

Sorry - I too am a Grammar Nazi but at least I do know what I'm talking about! :D

[Mark Vieth]

I have always been under the impression that if it is easy to read and flows to a reasonable degree without too much trouble, then where is the problem? When I first posted the story here which was a while ago, I have had quite a few people view it. Now if it was such an issue then someone would have said something at the end of the story about the grammer not being 110% spot on nor did I recieve any PM's in regard to this. But no one has said a thing. So I took this as a good sign.

Lou you said something that makes sense. No point in telling someone something is wrong and not have the backbone to show them. I no longer use that site for posting stories as they are a bit tight in the grammer department. I just thought I would share my frustrations with all of you.

[Neige]

In all honesty, I had started to read your story and hadn't gotten past the first paragraph because I thought it was difficult to read. I read erotica to get off, and if I need to reread a sentence two or three times to understand it, it's counterproductive. I didn't bother to make a comment to you about it since many stories are like that, I didn't want to be rude, and English isn't my first language so I know my grammar isn't always spot-on either.

[Loulabelle]

I think Neige is spot on (and funnily enough, so is her grammar usually!) I have rarely found a story with perfect grammar (and probably rarely written one myself) so I tend not to comment on it.

[WildIrish]

Any good sex story of mine would have to be written in the Future Tense. :D

[dm383]

Any good sex story of mine would have to be written in the Future Tense. :D

One presumes Mrs. WI won't be seeing this post!!

(Can you say :jacques: ?)

DM

[osuche]

Any good sex story of mine would have to be written in the Future Tense. :D


Would it involve Chicken Marsala? ;)

[Aqua]

Would it involve Chicken Marsala? ;)
It'll likely involve :corn:

:p


Now, to get back on topic...

My personal view is that since it is a sex story, people are going to either read it and get off or decide it's hard to read and move on. I don't make it a point to say a story has grammatical errors largely because I don't want to come across as rude, but also because I don't know enough about the rules of grammar to accurately convey any errors I might perceive.

I would encourage you to take whatever criticsm they have and try to objectively look at your story and see if it will improve what you have written. Look at best selling authors. They don't just write a story and publish it without someone going over it first. They need to go through and fix several things before the book is printed and shipped. If you take a hard look at your story and decide the changes they have suggested would take too much away, then leave it, but don't be so proud that you think all criticsm is worthless.

:2cents:

[WildIrish]

:brows:

[Loulabelle]

and try to objectively look at your story

Oooh! Aqua!!! Did you use that split infinitive just so I could come over there and teach you a lesson you'll never forget.......er...about English grammar of course?! ;)

[Aqua]

Oooh! Aqua!!! Did you use that split infinitive just so I could come over there and teach you a lesson you'll never forget.......er...about English grammar of course?! ;)
Oops, Busted!

Now just be sure to wear your sexy boots for the lesson, ok? ;)

[Lilith]

If someone said your story was awful I'd have given them grief for being rude. All the views counter counts is hits on the url. It does not mean people liked it. I find it interesting that you felt no/little feedback was a "good sign."

Have you read some of the stories that have gotten a lot of feedback?

[Loulabelle]

Around here we subscribe to the 'If you can't say anything nice about someone's efforts, don't say anything at all' rule. I think that's what Lilith may have been getting at. Trouble is, people say they want feedback but when they get it and it isn't favourable they get upset as you have done.

[Mark Vieth]

I never said that Lil. I was just saying that if anyone had an issue with the reading of the story then they could have said something to me then. I have done another story only recently which is also on my signature and it seems to be ok.

[1nutworld]

If someone said your story was awful I'd have given them grief for being rude. All the views counter counts is hits on the url. It does not mean people liked it. I find it interesting that you felt no/little feedback was a "good sign."


Lil you make a very good point about how "no/little feedback was a good sign", but I'll be honest. I've posted a couple of stories here, and neither one has a feedback thread started by anyone about them.

My friends here, that have read the stories I have written, have told me that they liked them, but nobody felt the need to post any feedback. (note: IMW did start a feedback thread for a story I wrote)

I don't plan on becoming a writer, but I would welcome feedback on MY stories. I can take constructive criticism should I recieve it, but as Lou pointed out, the general practice is "if you can't say something nice.....".

I guess if ALL posted stories had links to a feedback thread at the bottom of the last page of the story, maybe more feedback would be written. This would require the moderator to "post" the stories, however, so that the link would automatically appear, instead of the story being posted by the author.

[jseal]

... I don't plan on becoming a writer, but I would welcome feedback on MY stories. I can take constructive criticism should I recieve it, but as Lou pointed out, the general practice is "if you can't say something nice.....".
1nutworld,

Interesting development here.

I too avoid posting public criticisms of others’ stories. On those few times I have responded with suggestions, I have done so via PM. That way, if the author disagrees with my criticisms, there is no loss of face.

[1nutworld]

1nutworld,

Interesting development here.

I too avoid posting public criticisms of others’ stories. On those few times I have responded with suggestions, I have done so via PM. That way, if the author disagrees with my criticisms, there is no loss of face.

Jseal, that is exactly how I would handle the situation as well. If I am going to be critical of someone's writing, there is no need to make it an embarassing situation as well. I know if I were to be criticized, I would want it to be done in private, just as I would hope it happens with my performance at work.

Respect the person, even when being critical, of their actions or deeds.

[Irezumi Kiss]

I always wonder, though...how much criticizing or opinion is enough?

I got into a minor argument on another erotica site with a similar issue because I belong to the "anally-retentive good grammar/spelling/tense" camp and the ones throwing stones at us were making the point that since it's all amateur, fun in the doing and for free, we shouldn't be expecting the world over a few or more smudges on the chassis.

My quibble was that seeing mistakes that, maybe to me, are easily corrected with some triple-checking, help to make a good story better (if not great) and that if people really care about what they want to show to others, most especially with erotica, they'd take the extra steps, commissioned for or not.

Then again, when you read comments and they're ALL virtually praising the said piece, you start wondering if you're really thinking too much about amateur erotica. Or if you're getting elitist just because you want something more out of it than others, when if it made them satisfied just dandy, is all the barometer the writer needs to know they did a good job.

I dunno... :truce:

[scotzoidman]

All I can add is that if we had Grammer Nazis at pixies, this would a sad & lonely place...

[wyndhy]

... but don't be so proud that you think all criticsm is worthless.



nice.

listen to the man, mark.
personally speaking, i welcome any and all criticism of my scribbles (in fact, i wish peeps would do it more) and urge you to do the same. you’re the one who can take that criticism and use it constructively or choose to disagree but don’t blow it off.

conversely (and rather perversely considering what i just wrote) in re to stating my opinion about someone else's story on this site ... unless i was asked to personally edit a story, i would never offer any criticism or suggestions. in my past experience, people just don’t want to hear it. and frankly, i find the more awful the story, the more pissy the writer gets about any criticism.

[Loulabelle]

wyndhy, I think that's because if someone's grammar is consistently poor, it is not simply sloppiness or lack of proof reading, but an ignorance of the basic rules of English grammar. If someone is unaware of how badly something is written/ spelt/ punctuated, they don't realise how difficult it is for someone else to read it.

[WildIrish]

I find it difficult to read anything when Loulabelle's picture is right next to it. :hot:

[scotzoidman]

That's why I just look at the pictures...